Mom is Right: A Good Meal Cures All

I spend the morning taking care of housework, paperwork, and Internet work. It seems very strange not getting up for school, and it strikes me how easily one can slip into and out of routines.

Rob and I grab lunch at the Residence Hall Cafeteria, where today we present the staff with a thank you note and Manitoba pins. The hostess at the door is taken aback, but very pleased to accept the package and card on behalf of her co-workers. When we commissioned Ryan to write out the card for us, since none of the workers speak English, he said he rather doubted that anyone had ever thanked them before. Given the etiquette transgressions we've witnessed over the last month, this is not surprising.

I try to nap in the afternoon, but toss and turn. Perhaps it's the ingestion of the sweet milky coffee and white cake, pre-lie down. In any event, I haul my carcass out of bed in time for us to run off to our Korean lesson.

Our tutor is SharaLee's buddy Sue. She has generously offered to give some basic lessons to interested professors. The class consists of SharaLee, Rob, me, and... dun.. dun.. dun.. the Angry American and his self-entitled wife. Of course they drag along their precocious three year old for good measure. Regarding the latter, to be fair, he's just a boy. The failure of the parents to instill manners, and a sense of occasion, can hardly be blamed on the child. He tries to amuse himself, but what kid wants to hang out and be ignored by a group of adults in a classroom?

The Angry American instantly tries to hijack the class, as he apparently did during the last session, which we were unable to attend. He blurts, rushes the white board, and overrides our tutor. She gamely tries to regain control. He asks inane questions, and jumps to conclusions before receiving the answers. His idiotic and outrageous commentary reaches a fever pitch when he tells Sue, "We professors laugh at you students when you can't pronounce our names." Rob and I cringe. Sue simply retorts, "Oh. Really?!" She's all of a couple of decades old, but her class, and composure, is of the ages.

In the evening, we settle on another restaurant we've been meaning to try out: the Korean Traditional Porridge place in Hu Moon. There are many varieties of porridge, or "bonjuk," on the menu, so it's hard to choose just one. This is billed as "well-being - slow food," the diametrical opposite of unhealthy, fast food. When Rob orders the red bean porridge and I order the vegetable cheese dish, the server raises an eyebrow, but says, "ne," or "yes."

We see why she was confused when the order arrives. This is enough food for a family of six Koreans. The enormous, steaming bowls of porridge are served with various kimchi, about three teaspoons of shredded, pickled, beef, and about a quarter cup of green apple cold soup, or as it's correctly called, "sujeonggua."

It's hard not to think of North American, Montana's style, meals, where the food group offerings would be reversed, with tiny portions of vegetables, and Paul Bunyon sized slabs of meat. I also think back to our Indian friend commenting on our lunch soup the other day, which I now recognize as Korean porridge. He said it's cheap food for poor people. We wonder if Koreans consider this a meal for the less fortunate. The truth is, we think it's fit for a king!

Rob's red bean soup is smooth and creamy, with chewy grape-sized wheat balls. My vegetable cheese soup is multi-textured, and full of flavour. When we are served, I speculate that we will need take-out dishes. As it turns out, we do not. Again, the Koreans really put the "art" into culinary arts. They can take the simplest ingredients and come up with the most transcendant dishes.

As we wheel our bellys down the street, we bump into TA Gun and two of the girls in his English study group. After a full day of work, they've just spent the last few hours honing their skills, and now, they're off to enjoy a beer. Rob and I are both moved to see these vivacious kids living their lives to the fullest. It almost makes you want to pack up, fly around the globe, and embrace another culture for the summer!